process and put through the normal channel. we track and monitor that routinely now to make sure a fully developed claim that comes in maintains its path through the fully developed claim process. there are specific rules that will pull that claim out that have process. but now we put the control measures in place, it's not being used or abused. it's not being used to the rate it was when the fully-developed claim process was new. >> my time is expired. i yield back. >> thank you. members, are there any further questions? on behalf of the subcommittee, thank you all for your testimony. you are now excused. i thank everyone for being here with us today. ensuring our veterans receive timely and appropriate decisions regarding their service connected claim is a top priority for the committee and the department. it is unacceptable for the price that -- to be the accuracy of those decisions. will certainly be a seeking more

information in the near future on areas discussed as a va continues to march toward the secretary's 2015 goals. i would like to once again thank our witnesses for being here today. i asked unanimous consent the members have five legislative days to revise and extend any remarks and include any extraneous material. hearing no objection, so ordered. i th washington journal continu.

host: we are back with congressman randy neugebauer, a republican from texas. he sits on the house farm agriculture committee and a contrary for these negotiations over the five-year farm bill. thes begin with yesterday, principles got together here in washington. the senate is not in session, but they came back to washington to meet with their house counterparts. what did you learn? fort: first of all, thanks having me. i think we're getting closer. i talked to chairman lucas. we keep closing in on that. we are working out a framework

of where we go from here. i am optimistic that things are moving in the right direction. i think chairman lucas has done an outstanding job am a particularly in the house, of keeping this process moving forward. this is important that we get a five-year farm bill for american farmers and for families. host: why is it important? bill is a goodm steward of the american taxpayer's hard-earned money. it provides a valuable safety net for farmers and families. title and autrition title to provide a safety net to farmers and ranchers. these are the people who were feeding the world literally. we export a lot of our food. it is an important part of our economy. it is an important part of our way of life. host: this has been an ongoing saga over this farm bill. back in january of this year, the congress extends the farm bill until september 30.

senate passes the farm bill, house passes its own farm bill. what is holding up negotiations? guest: we have been working on it for over 2.5 years. we have had a number of hearings. bringing experts in, learning a little bit more about what is working, what is not working. then we went through the normal process here it we collect regular order in congress. going through the committee process. in the house and the senate. we took those to the floor. the first version of the house bill did not pass the house floor. we divided the baby, so to speak, and did it into pieces. when you do regular order, we have allowed people to provide minutes. we have a lot of debate and discussion. i think we are closing in on getting a good farm bill. host: where will you come down on food stamps?

the house republicans wanted $40 billion cut over 10 years. the senate, $4 billion. guest: first, let me say this. it was a lot of miscommunication about the food stamp program. none of the proposals, house or senate, would take food away from the people who actually need that assistance. i want to make that perfectly clear. what it does do, it makes sure that the people who are getting these benefits actually qualify for it. what we have our ways that people have learned to gain the system. for example, the categorical eligibility were people getting certain kind of benefits can't increase benefits whether they have applied for food stamps or not -- can increase benefits whether they have applied for food stamps or not. deople who were working an paying their bills, we want to be good stewards of their money. we want to make sure that people

who could be working or trying to transition off of food stamps are actually working in that direction. these are common sense things. this does not take food away from people who need it. host: shouldn't the states be allowed to decide who qualifies for food stamps? guest: in some ways they do that. but what happens is that it is a partnership. states try to use various tools that would allow the federal government's portion to be more than the state's portion. we are trying to do the right thing here. what is fair and equitable in the situation and make sure the people who need the benefits get them and make sure. host: are you going to insist on that $40 billion figure? guest: i am more interested in the policy. we really don't know how much savings any of these policy issues are going to actually bring. this is an estimate by the

congressional budget office. what i am interested in is commonsense policy. host: reports from yesterday's meeting say that the two sides might settle at $10 billion in savings of the food stamp program. is that a number you could live with? guest: i want to go back with what i said a while ago. i am more interested in the policy that the house and senate are going to agree to. i think you can get hung up on the number, but i do want to that people just because they qualify for one program, they are not automatically qualified for food stamps. i do think it is important that able-bodied people be looking states ared that the verifying that. those are programs i would like to see included in whatever farm bill we have. host: what are the odds that a farm bill gets past? guest: i think they are good. i don't think they will get

passed before december 31 which is unfortunate. but i think we are closing in soon and over the holidays we could begin to get the language drafted and hopefully come back after the first of the year and get the bill passed. host: is the 31st or deadline? you will go past or deadline? guest: the farm bill is already expired. we are operating under an expired farm bill. the good news is that all of the crop programs are covered for this year. people are getting their benefits. what happens after the first of the year, farmers and ranchers across the country will begin to plan for next year's crop -- they need to know what the rules of the game are going to be. host: that brings up commodity groups. there was a story recently that there has been intense lobbying threatening the farm bill. the commodity groups, corn growers, sugar folks, soybean folks warring against each

other. -- this is notte helping to get a farm bill. i did not have this in 2008. attitude among the commodity groups seems to be lineup and shoot. guest: i think one of the things everyone is concerned about is making sure we get a farm bill that covers all of the various crops. lucas' what chairman goal has been through the whole process. we cannot have a farm bill for some farmers, we need a farm bill for all farmers. host: explain what is going on for people who do not know. guest: when they look at this new safety net, we are doing away with direct payments. that is a major reform. host: direct payments to farmers. guest: we are going to more of an insurance-like scenario. what people want to make sure of is that this new safety net is

going to provide an actual safety net for them. people want the safety net to be based on income. some people wanted to be based on price of the commodity. what we have been working to do is to try to put something together that meets everybody's needs. i don't think everybody will be happy. generally, a good bill is when not everyone felt like they got their way, but the bottom line is that we did get a good safety net. host: this is a key sticking point for negotiations. explained to people who do not know farm language how much this means in taxpayer dollars. the commodity portion. guest: the commodity portion is about 20% of the farm bill. the food stamps is about 80% of the farm bill. this farm bill, over a 10 year. nearly $1d, is

trillion. we are talking about in the neighborhood of $200 billion over 10 years. host: what farmers do you represent? guest: grain, cotton, peanuts, livestock. we have people who are growing vegetables in my district. i have a very farm-oriented congressional district. host: let's get to phone calls. kathryn in ohio. democrat. caller: good morning. i am so happy to hear you say that you want to make sure that people qualify. i want to see people qualify. earn noher of three can more than $13,000 to receive a underrogram, i do not, any circumstances, want to see a farmer or an act company who makes billions were trillions of aslars get anything from me

a taxpayer. my husband we find ourselves the working poor. i am tired as an american seeing my tax dollars going to a rich man and a small child does without. you say he or she is obese. children eat rice, beans, spaghetti. shame on you. you should be a christian american. idol this meshes goes out -- out.ope this message goes now i see rich, white man act like you. shame on you. host: let's get a response. guest: i appreciate the comments.

she wants to make sure these families that are in need will get the benefits. that is a lot of families are struggling and they are paying their taxes. they ask to make sure that people qualify for the benefits. the farm bill is basically a safety net for adverse weather conditions. there are some things that happened to farmers that are not under their control. many of the farmers are just farm families, second and third generation. is big business. host: you have more family farms than big business forms? guest: oh, yes. they are determined to do business as a corporation.

when you come to my district, you find people farming and a lot of acres. but that is generally a farm family. a husband and wife and maybe sons and daughters are all contributing to the farm family. they have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to put into developing a crop. sometimes mother nature is not kind to them. much loansin how farmers have to take out for equipment. the farmers need certainty going into next year. why is that? guest: the tractor it takes to farm a big farm today. it could cost anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000.

then the fertilizer and some people are irrigating and putting chemicals down. many of these farmers and ranchers in my district maybe borrowing hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars just to hope to make a profit. host: does the bank say i will give you the loan if there is some certainty with what is going on in washington? guest: the banker wants his money back whether it rains over a dozen rain, whether there is a drought or not a drought. the farm bill provide some certainty of what is reasonable to expect if things go bad, the former can still pay the loan back. host: this from twitter. guest: i do not know anything

about members receiving millions of dollars. members of congress come from all over the united states and some come from farm families. the thing that people keep using the word "cutting" on food stamps. we are not cutting benefits for people who qualify. have anto make sure we efficient system here. and making sure they qualify for them. host: clarence on washington state. caller: good morning. can you explain to me how cutting the total amount of resources available to the food stamp program does not negatively impact the goals you say are needed.

it doesn't do anything to remove the waste, fraud, and abuse. don't you think by leaving the total amount of money alone and directly your efforts toward the waste, fraud, and abuse, it would assure the money is being spent? guest: good question. another misinformation out there. the food stamp program is a mandatory program. whatever benefits that people qualify for, that amount of money would be expended. we are talking about making sure everybody receiving those benefits qualifies for it and making sure folks experiencing a temporary bump in the road are making progress to transition off of food stamps.

people who could be doing part- time work, we want to make sure they are doing that. that is in their best interest in the long-term. benefit toot cut any anyone who is eligible. jones" says every five dollars of food stamps generates up to nine dollars in economic activity. guest: what we want to do is we do not want an economy based on how much benefits the government is passing out. we want a government that is efficient and effective. we want an efficient and effective program for our farmers and for families in

need. offeconomy would be better if all of these people did not have to be on food stamps. we need to get an economy that is creating jobs and opportunities for those families. making sure we're helping those families. host: republican caller from tampa. hi, burt. caller: thank you. you're on the committee which oversees the institute of theards, why would you -- building was in freefall for over 100 feet and was destroyed -- host: there is an organized group that are calling into our show and others to question the

investigation of the 911 attacks, this group thinking it wasn't adequate enough from the 9/11 attack.- the guest: 9/11 was a terrible event. we did not think those holdings would fall down. i am not familiar with what the caller is referring to. have, underndards constant review as we learn more and more. we're learning more about how we designed buildings to be more terrorist-adverse, and that is probably something we should be doing. host: david in michigan. hi, david. caller: good morning. stuff, weoing to cut

need to concentrate on the military. i think of the food stamp program, and was designed to help children with nutritional problems. children in the south were not getting fed up early. how are we going to get the children working to make sure they are qualified to get food stamps? this is about feeding kids. we need to stop giving money to the rich farmers. any of the things being proposed in the senate or the not aboutbout -- is taking food away from people who qualify. if we do not curb some of this hase, this program

exponentially increased in cost. we are spending money we do not have. i owe a responsibility to everybody in this country to make sure we are doing these programs effectively. host: we have this on the second point. guest: no. this farm bill is designed to be for every farmer, whether you are 100 acres or 2000 acres. we have tried to put together a farm bill that is good for american forms no matter what size it is. no. we have farmers fail all the time in our economy. none of these programs rewards people that cannot farm well.

we do not want a program that rewards farmers that cannot farm well. farmers that provide the safest and cheapest food in the world to american and global families. host: independent caller is up next. caller: i am so angry. i was born into a family that had nothing. when we were kids we had to do without. their our children in this country that are doing without food in their stomachs. there mother has to go to work. there is no work for some of these women. they are trying to raise their family. of food and cat food. you eat steak dinners.

you have already cut. you are not telling the truth. host: there is a piece about the snap program. it expired. about $40 writes -- less each month to feed a family of four. one of the things you have to understand is the history. the food stamps was part of the stimulus and was designed to let inflation match back up. to movecrats decided the expiration date to pay for

some other stimulus programs they felt was more important. they kept moving that date back. 1 when it was september that went into effect. enough,sn't it been cut the food stamps? guest: that is where everybody is missing the point. we are not cutting the benefits. there is not one cut other than what the democrats did with moving the stimulus number back. we just want to make sure everybody on the program, we are doing everything we can to make sure they qualify. if you are not eligible, you do not get it. should you have been on it if you were not eligible? stampsare receiving food

and you do not qualify for it, how do i explain that to the people who are working hard? they are doing everything they can to make sure they feed their family. some people on food stamps do not qualify for the program. host: 47 million americans are on right now. if the $40 billion number goes through, if that is what you safe from making it harder to get food stands, how many less people? guest: we do not know. i am more interested in the policy. i do not know what the numbers will be. these are cbo estimates. youou are on food stamps, ought to have to qualify for them. you arehn in georgia, on the air with randy neugebauer

, republican of texas. negotiating over a five-year farm bill. caller: good morning. year math, $4 billion a out of almost $80 billion a year program. that is about 6%. isee people every day -- need a cab --that do not food stamps that make more money than i do. charge moreds to prices than grocery stores. it is amazing. every day i see this. i do not take food stamps. i made $15,000 last year. i do not believe in taking something i do not need from other people.

i kind of consider that stealing. we spent $18 billion a year on food stamps and now we are spending $80 billion? i wonder how many votes that is buying. i heard one of the biggest fallacies ever told repeated once again by the president yesterday, trickle-down economics. a quick assessment of the so- called job creation in this recovery. $7.8 million. go back 30 years ago. 1982, wember of created 11.5 million jobs. look it up. guest: thank you, john. he is out there working, doing the right thing. he wants to make sure people

receiving food stamps need those benefits and qualify for them. i think that is a fair thing. host: talk about the numbers he gave. guest: i do know in the last seven or eight years, food stamps has almost doubled in this country. and the numbers are right. rs.se are 10-year numbe about $80 billion ticket. host: ay year. guest: we are talking about less than 5% reduction in those benefits. maybe there are some people that do not qualify. host: we have a tweet from monty. guest: it just varies. it depends on what part of the

country and what kind of crop. we have vegetable farmers with a higher value crop. an average farm is in the 2000- acre range. they are planting multiple crops, maybe cotton and peanuts. these are farm families. florida.d in tampa, caller: how are you today? host: good morning. caller: why is the government giving out subsidies to farmers -- host: why is the government giving it subsidies to farmers to not grow food? guest: we have made some reforms in this farm bill. we used to have direct payments.

they were paid to farmers whether they planted anything or not. we have in the minute it that program. i think we have moved the ball in the right direction. we are not paying farmers -- host: does that include the conservation program? guest: they are designed to make sure some soils, we not produce those areas because of erosion in the soil, many people feel like it is not the best for the conservation of that area. host: so that still exists? guest: that is right. we have set aside these acres. we have asked them not to create a crop form. a certain amount of

money for not growing that crop on that land. host: c

maximum height of 40 feet. it is the deadliest philippine typhoon on record killing more than 5600 people. another 1,759 are listed as missing. approximately 26,000 were injured. it's the strongest storm ever recorded at land fall and unofficially the fourth strongest typhoon ever recorded in term of wind speed.

we were told that the storm was three and a half times the size of katrina. last week, i lead a congressional delegation to the philippines to witness the disaifertion unleashed by the typhoon. and to gain a better understanding of the unmet needs going forward. joined by my distinguished colleagues, trent franks and al greene and staff director. we were unanimous in our deep respect in abiding gratitude for the accomplishment of the u.s. military, usaid leaders, and ngo the ground who alone have committed over $20 million to assist the victims. for their part the philippine military was playing a vital role. along with remnants of local governing bodies. in the immediate aftermath of the storm, right up until our arrival, highly motivated u.s. servicemembers brought needed

supplies including food, water, medicine, and housing material by the plane load to the ruins with homeless victims over 19,000 and counting hitching flights back for safety and shelter. as was the case after the 2004 tsunami, the united states deployed an aircraft carrier. this time the uss george washington and other major military assets to provide assistance. smart, rapid, response combined with air lift capability has made all the difference in the world. in the pill finds, i had the privilege of meeting the cornel chief of staff of the third marine expeanut -- expedition their force. i nomined her to the a it was clear watching him in a, he earned extraordinary respect from the top of the command down to the lowest private. his leadership and that of general kennedy ensured that a

desperate shell-shocked population of victims got immediate tangible aid. every marine i saw, every marine we saw including from new jersey was working around the clock to protect victims. sleep, what is that one marine told me with a smile. we're saving lives. al, principle adviser for east asia and the foreign disaster relief said, quote, when the u.s. hit the ground, things got moving. this was a model response, he said. we saved lives here. i know, that for a fact, close quote. the cooperation and team work of our military and disaster assistance leaders from usaid including the director of office foreign disaster assistance traveled with us. and ngo community and philippine

officials was a textbook example how disaster assistance ought to be done. the relief efforts from far from over. it's now the recovery phase and more needs to be done. with donald rially from catholic relief services, we were with him the entire day, when we were in the devastated city, our delegation visited a san ticks kit distry biewx and received a briefing is a medical doctor in my own state of new jersey. we met with numerous survivors who told us heart breaking story. somehow radiated a calm, and inner peace. one man told us how his father had drowned in only a few feet from where we stood. and he carried many water-logged dead bodies to a mass grave. he said he nearly collapsed

emotionally; however, whenly carried a lifeless body of a 3-year-old girl. he said had he just broke down. he was overwhelmed. and he felt he could continue no more. amazingly, a few days later, there he was determined to rebuild and overcome. it was full of faith. that resiliency was best summed up by archbishop who said, and i quote, the typhoon was the strongest in the world. but our faith in the lord is even stronger. no calamity or natural devastates can quench the fire of our hope. the philippine soul is stronger than yo lane data. our plane was diverted to seek the helicopter that crashed in to the bay. after a flawless just above the deck search for survivors, the

helicopter had spunk to the bottom. it was like looking for a needle in the hey stack. -- hay stack. they spotted two individuals who had no life jackets open the back of the c130 kicked out a yellow life raft to them. with night darkness approaching. it was clear their lives had been saved. and that was just -- it was a symbol of what everything that was going on in the ground and elsewhere was all about. aboard the crew was cornel john peck, and a group of individuals who were just happy they saved two more lives in addition to automatic the others they had a hand in saving. back we had productive meetings with the health minister, the doctor, and secretary of foreign affairs, albert are czar owe. we met with people from the development corporation. one of whom was matt bond. who told us pursuant to a

contract of some 435 million of five years cc grant has only been damaged. and that too, the road they constructed actually paved the way for humanitarian supplies to make their way to the victims. we also met with a ton of ngo and other agencies. our interest was not only on effective our emergency was throughout it all, but going forward where our systems ought to be directed in the medium and long-term. we felt that two areas deserved special attention. preventing and addressing potential epidemics, and minimizing the human trafficking. it normally takes a -- after a natural disaster such as a typhoon but international health experts told us that already was endemic in the storm -- and could increase four to five fold in the coming weeks.

in addition to cholera, hepatitis a, fever, monopoly, and other diseases can proliferate in a post-storm environment. there are vaccines for cholera, hepatitis a, but there are no vaccines for the others. and others that might man fest in huge numbers. they are complicated several factors; first, the philippines is undergoing a rainy season. not only increase breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other disease-bearing pests but harmer relief efforts. many residents without shelter will be more us is susceptible to the element. the lack of electricity can mean no cold for medicine that must be refrigerated. including safe blood for women. there are some 90,000 women who are pregnant who lost their

ability to go to a venue where safe delivery can occur. we know that some 200 health clinics have been destroyed there. so a venue for them to give birth safely and access to safe blood remains a serious challenge going forward. third, many roads remain uncleared or badly damaged. making transportation for health workers or patients more difficult. fourth, many workers have left the infected areas or died in the storm. and the continued presence of foreign health workers will depend on ongoing donor funding. internationally funded protection efforts currently focus on family reunification, personal identification, and creation of safe spaces for women and children. u.s.a. aide are establish women friendly and child-friendly spaces in strategic locations to address the needs of women in adolescence girls as well as male children. the lack of electricity and

insecure housing raises the risk of falling prey to abusers and traffickers especially at night. however, while there's acknowledgment of increased risk of human trafficking, in the wake of this storm, the lack of reports have increased has meant the issue is not not yet in full focuses. maybe it's a good news story. we know traffickers are red dpoi prey on the vulnerable and we know that the philippines has a huge problem of women being trafficked and children as well. also, important will be providing shelter for the 1.2 million families whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. they told us that 1.3 billion will be needed to repair and to really erect homes that have been destroyed. the philippines, as we all know, is a major american ally, and a great training partner. there are an estimated 350 americans living in the pill

finds and 4 millions faa peen knows living in the united states. we are bound by a common value system and a great deal of friendship that spans well over a century. we have an support stake in seeing our friends and neighbors can recover from the devastating storm. the purpose of the hearing is what do we do next? how do we proceed and go forward? i would like to yield to my good friend and colleague for opening. >> thatch, mr. chairman. as usual, i want to thank you for your leadership in holding today's hearing. and also for making the trip to the philippines. i want to exattendant warm welcome to assistant administrator lindberg, for the leadership and agreeing to come before the subcommittee and to our witnesses, thank you for your participating and the important work each of your organization is doing to provide relief and support to those in need. los angeles and my congressional district home to a large philippine population who have family that have been impacted by the typhoon. i personally have friends who could not find their family

members for mu days. the u.s. response to this crisis has been nothing but immediate and swift. i want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the important work currently underway by u.s. aide and dod whose rapid response is undoubtly saved lives and prevented death and injury. let me extend my deep appreciation to the many u.s. based ngo who leaped in to action and those who continue to take on the long and arduous work of rebuilding and helping mend peoples' lives. i want to yield the rest of my time to representative greene, who i know -- oh. okay, mr. chairman. go ahead. >> before i go to mr. gene, i want to go to chairman rice. ly yield to my friend and colleague. chairman rice, chairman of the committee. >> i'll yield to mr. al green at this time, if that's all right, mr. chairman.

thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and thank you to mr. royce. mr. royce, i want to thank you because you immediately started this process with the resolution, and i know you'll say more about it. i won't step on your words. i want to thank you for moving as expeditiously as you did. mr. chairman, i sincerely thank you, because you were not only a great leader, you were a great inspiration. i will tell you that your summary you just accorded us is entirely accurate, and i would like to associate myself with each and every word you articulated. i'm proud to say that the bill is bipartisan and our effort was truly a sincere, nonpartisan effort. we went there to be of assistance and i'm proud to have been associated with the endeavor. to my ranking member, thank you

for allowing me to be a part of this as an interloper. i seem to find my way in to places, and you have greeted me warmly, and i have great respect and admiration for you. i thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of this body today. i would like to extend my condolences to the people in the pill finds. -- philippines. they have suffered greatly. they are in the recovery phase, but there is still great work to be done and i want to assure them that my visit has only strengthened and reenforced my belief that there is much we can do to be of assistance. i would like to thank the witness, i did have an opportunity to read your testimony, ms. lind berg.

i found it compelling and very extensive and validated what i saw while i was there. so i thank you. i was inspired by the unity of the effort when i was there. there was a try par tide process that involved our embassy, which was right there at the forefront, the leadership was stellar and outstanding. we had u.s. u.s.a. id all over the place. it was remarkable to see how the organization managed to become almost you you -- of course we had dod. i was very proud to be an american and to be there. our marines landed and people

applauded and the marines didn't just show up in the parlance of many of my friends, who live where i live. they showed up and showed out. they acquitted themselves well. the chairman talked about the rescue mission, which was something that happened while we were en route to do something else. they were 66 indication and did it wither lackty. i was proud of the way they handled themselves. the marines that i met about 15 from texas gave me phone numbers and i on thanksgiving day, i received one of the greatest rewards you can receive when you call a family member and say i saw your son, i saw your daughter, i saw your husband and i saw your wife. they're doing well and serving

our country well. and there were stares -- tears of joy that emanated from some of these relatives and others were just gratified to know that we took the time to go. so mr. chairman, i think we did a good thing. again, thank you for your leadership. mr. franks isn't here. i would like to mention him and say to him i'm proud to enter associated with his effort. he's arrived now. excuse me, mr. franks. my apology. mr. franks from arizona. we had an opportunity to spend lot of time together. and gratified we have the chance to see and unmany things about the philippines. mr. chairman, i don't know how much time you have given me. if you would allow mae couple of more minutes. i appreciate it. i want to mention our relationship with the philippines is one that is solid, in my opinion, because the relationship is based upon, in part, business.

we are their second largest trading partner. it's more than a relationship. it's a partnership. we have a visiting force agreement with the pill find -- philippines. it's more than a partisanship. it's also a kinship, because we have many american bhos live in the philippines. about 300,000. and we have americans with children that are being born in the philippines. and this relationship this partnership, this kinship, makes our association quite unique. i'm proud of it. i read the testimony, and in your testimony, madam, you mentioned about 800,000 people were moved out of harms' way. that answers a question that i

had when i went over there. when i saw the devastates, i immediately asked myself, why weren't more people killed? it was a miracle, in my opinion, that more people were not killed but a part of the answer has to do with the way the government was able to evacuate 800,000 people in short order that was a fantastic effort, and i'm proud to say that i know we had a hand in it. i'm proud to say it a lot of lives. and finally, i want to just acknowledge we have a bill health care r3602, and any bill i filed is one that i'm amenable

to changing. there's nothing in the bill that is sealed in any sort of permanent way. but what it does simply, is accord filipinos who live in the united states of america. we can change the name. we can find another we to do here. here's why i think it's imperative we do this in some way by some name. because the people there in the philippines, 43%, approximately, live off of less than $2 a day. to send people back in to harms' way, in a sense, i think it's a little bit -- to be very kind and sensitive, there are many other adjectives. i think we, as a great country, can allow them to stay for some period of time all negotiateble

and work and send remittences back to the philippines. last year minnesota $10 billion were sent from the united states to the film peen -- philippines. more than $10 billion. we can help the people of the philippines help themselves with something right now we are calling it temporary protective status. call it anything you want. anybody can sponsor it. i think we need to do something to allow people to help themselves. this is way it can be accomplished. $2 a day, not a lot. we have people working here. their visas will expire. let them don't work and send the remittences back home. the people who say i want to send money, i'm not sure who i should send it to. this way the money will get to people who need it. these are family members and friends of people living in it

country. she was the commander of the c130 when i had opportunity to go on the flight deck. i want to put in for a good word for the women who serve in the marines. they are doing an outstanding job as well, and i salute her. she is from texas, yes. and she had her co-pilot in training and i was so proud of the way she was training her co-pilot. and i salute all of our men and women who serve. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back the time i do not have. >> mr. green, thank you very much. it was a privilege to you and franks on the trip. i would like to yield to distinguished mr. rice. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to yourself, mr. franks, to al green, mr. green you are right. we have a kinship with the

people of the philippines, and i think that our hearts really go out for the families and the victims. the 5600 people who lost their lives, but the reason i want to commend the three of you is because your focus on this trip was what additional steps can the united states take to make certain that we did not have an epidemic that would follow those who lost their lives that day. that malnourishment wouldn't attitude that toll, and i must tell you as chairman of the foreign affairs committee, i strongly support the u.s. effort here tow help the philippines recover and rebuild and i think the u.s. agency for international development is playing a critical role in this effort. along with the brave men and women of our armed forces. and to date we have allocated $60 mlt to recovery efforts.

the uss george washington is stationed offshore to support relief efforts. i think many of the filipino american community were districtly affected. i know, we hear from families about how this type -- the worse on record. took from them friends and family members in many cases unaccounted for. we applaud the community's effort to come together and raise funds to donate humanitarian supplies. filipino-americans are rightly proud of their heritage and committed to helping those -- effected by the typhoon. i want to thank cain and randy weber. we had a hearing not long ago. a field hearing, we herd from a filipino who had gone through this tragedy of being labor trafficking trafficking in this

case, it is in the wink of >> disasters like this. we're making sure it doesn't happen. i want to thank karen and randy for their work on that issue. and i wanted to say that i had the pleasure of meeting with assistant administrator nancy lind berg in the days after the typhoon hit land fall. i want to say it's extraordinary the work usaid is doing there. we want to thank you and your team for bringing comfort and compassion to those who need most. i have one issue i want to raise. one which we met with bill gates, the committee members met with bill gates several hours ago. it's one of the issue he addressed as well in this meeting. that is the unacceptably long

transit times for supplies to reach those who need it most. the 60-year-old law that governs fooding prevents the timely delivery of assistance by requiring the commodities be sourced directly from the u.s. and then transported overseas. 60 years ago, this made sense. today it has become an unnecessary barrier. in the case of the philippines, usaid made a cash contribution directly to the world food program so commodities can be purchased locally. in comparison, the first shipment of u.s. rice to the philippines is arriving now. just arrived three weeks after -- after the typhoon made land fall. so surely we can do better than that, it's time we updated our loss. and i didn't want to say that we have language that we believe we

hope is going to be in the farm bill in order make the reform. so, mr. chairman, i am heartened by the outpouring of support that the international community has shown to the philippines. i thank you, again, for your hard work on this issue. two weeks ago this committee voted unanimously to support of bipartisan resolution that i authored expressing our condolences for the people of the philippines and in support of the recovery effort being waged now by usaid and the department of defense and earlier this year, i lead a bipartisan delegation with my good friend, ranking member, to the philippines to strengthen our bilateral relationship with that country. we're going do that again in the wake of these issues. but in the interim, i want to thank all the members of the committee and to say we are all filipinos during this difficult time. i look forward to hearing from our distinguished witness.

>> thank you for your leadership and comment today. i would like to recognize -- >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you for calling this hearing and as we start to look at the issue, and a personal firsthand testimony you and others who visited the region. it's certainly one that can't help but touch your heard when you hear about people being displaced tps. whard we start talking in millions to really recognize the size of that. but it's the size of the state of oregon. if everybody in oregon were displaced, you know, it's just monumental in term of the impact. so i think in a town where many times we can be very critical, agencies and their role in what has happened. and the testimony that has been shared by my colleague, be

green, and the chairman. certainly is something that needs to be applauded and we need to celebrate the screeses and hopefully put a model going forward on how we can make sure that our response is not only rapid but one that is sustainable. i think the difficulty we have is with so many tough situations throughout our world is being able to replicate and make sure that the bureaucracy does not get in the way of providing good support. yet, at the same time where we just don't throw money at it. and chairman royce just mentioned this particular issue on a 60-year-old law that we need address, and look at that in a real way to make sure that in times ofther i want to just thank the chairman and ranking member bass

for the continued bipartisan. there's very little that is bipartisan in this town. and time and time and time and time again i find that -- with the interest of the people. not only the united states citizens but in this particular case, the filipino people that are hurting and suffering. my heart, my prayers, and my continued support to advance the cause to provide relief is unyielding. with that i yield back. >> thank you very much. mr. weber? >> thank you for the meeting. mr. chairman i have lot of questions. i'm short on time. i have a 4:00 meeting. i'm going let you go. >> mr. franks. >> well, thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank the, i guess chairman rise has gone to another committee. we appreciate his fore berns in all of this. it's certainly been a precious

honor to have been part of this delegation, and, you know, it seems like congressman chris shit is always at the forefront to do anything he can to recognize the image of god in every person across our world in our midst. i have seen him to be the first to care about and love those that everybody has forgotten about. he's a hero to me and i have the great respect for everything he's done. and congressman green, someone i held to be a friend before we went. now i hold to be a precious friend. and was so touch bid the way he put it apedly it was a truly bipartisan effort to making a nonpartisan goal to try to reach tout filipino people. and i appreciate to congressman green very, very much.

as it happens, i have the privilege, and i mean that, the privilege to have been married to a lady from the philippines for 33 years. i don't know how in the world it happened, but if she ever leaves me. i'm going go with her. save a little trouble that way. she has been the delight of my life. and it is representativive of the noble nature of the filipino people. this is the people that refused, as congressman smith said to be brought down ultimately bit the storm. they were stronger than the storm. and i couldn't help but notice someone had taken a picture out on a high hill there that have been devastated all around. and the banner simply said, roofless, homeless, but not hopeless. i was deeply moved by that. they said the filipino people are people of deep abiding

faith, and have a courage that sometimes belies their stature and gentleness. i can't exprez to you the warmth i feel toward the filipino people. maybe i'm a little biased. i assure you it's well justified. i suppose note point out they have been strong allies of the united states in times past critical allies of the united states. one of the places where the storm actually came to shore was place marked -- decades ago. and i thought the symbolism was pretty profound. i would be really lax in not pointing out my agreement with both congressman green and congressman smith remitted to -- related to the coordination that occurred there among usaid and

all the groups and the ngo. and i have to say especially the american military. i suppose there's no enemy on earth more to be feared than the american military. >> but is no friend that can be more capable and more committed than the same group of men and women i think signify everything american is about. they provided a base of operation there, and the muscle to make this all work. and i know there are so many philippine people we didn't get there in time to help. help didn't get there in time. i only hope that somehow they are not forgotten. their memory is kind of catalyst in our own hearts to recognize to be an american is a privilege and also one of the things we sometimes forget how much easier we have.

everything about the appropriate to do what we can to extend the hand of freedom and hope to those that are in need. and this is what this was about. and i think it not only is exfies what america believes and stands for. but, mr. chairman, it can have the effect of seeing the light of freedom someday fall across every lonely place and lonely face on this planet. and so let me just suggest to you that i am very honored to be an american and part of this effort. and i'm grateful to all the people that have given their lives to these kinds of cause. i'm hoping, mr. chairman, i can ask her when she has the opportunity. because my challenge i have to leave as well. but i'm hoping she can address the whole issue about who

usaid's plans and efforts to protect trafficked children, abused children, and what are the best programs they have to protect children from being abused in these crises like this? how do we make sure the programs are in place? and i'm going go ahead and mention the whole epidemic situation that may follow whatever area might be and what we need to do to be prepared for those kind of crises. and finally, you know, it's it's a suggest there had while we were there when people like chris smat and congressman green and others talk about this in the media it keeps this issue in front of the public. which allows them to respond financially and otherwise. it's a consequence that ends up protecting real lives. and i'm hoping you might express ways that as members of congress that we can extend our efforts there to make sure we are doing

everything we can here and the safety of the capital to do what we can to see preace and help extend it. with that, mr. chairman, i just -- more than anything else a sen of gratitude. grateful to all of you, and you sir, especially. and god bless the filipino people. >> thank you very much, mr. franks. i would like to introdisuse our first panel. beginning with nancy lindberg. conflict and humanitarian assistance at usaid. she testified before our committee on several previous occasions promoting earlier this year in the crisis being intorn in to office october of 2010 ms. lind berg has lead the team in the response to the ongoing syria crisis.

prior to joins she was president of the mercy corp. she spent 14 years. she held a number of leadership positions on including service as copresident of the board of directors of the u.s. global leadership coalition. one of the founders and board member of the national committee in north korea and chair of the management committee. she's member of the foreign relation. she hold a ba and ma from stanford university and ma public administrate from the jfk school. and harvard university. the floor is yours. >> thank you very much. members of the subcommittee, and others. thank you very much for inviting

me to testify today. a special thanks to you, congressman smith for leaving the delegation and all of you who went during this important time. and most of all, thanks to all of you for the ongoing support that enables us to do this kind of life-saving work and express who we are as americans in these types of need. that's vitally important. this has been the worst year sin 1993 for the philippines. an the november 8th super typhoon was the worst of those storms. the worst of an already bad year with the 195 miles per hour winds, a storm surge that reached higher and went further inland thant indian ocean tsunami. today we know that 5,600 people have died and nearly 11 million have been effected. as did many of you, again, express my deepest condolences of the people of the philippines. these are life changing losses that will take many years to

fully regroup from. as you noted, i traveled to the philippines one week after the storm made land fall and saw the devastation. you see the photograph. when you're in it it's an eerie, twisted landscape of boats and cars tossed in trees and people's lives destroyed. you also see these signs of hope, the signs of humanity that surfaced even during the difficult moments. i met a brother and sister, and the sister was telling me about how her brother rescued 13 people at great personal sacrifice during the typhoon. these are the stories that are side by side with the devastation and the loss. and the great resilience of the people as they begin to emerge from the worse of the storm. is also saw hassive relief effort already in full swing. i arrived on a u.s. military

c130 that was carrying life-saving supplies that u.s.a. aid brought in from our regional key piece of equipment. i also saw the rice that we had enabled world food program to buy loamly being put in to family packs and distributed so it was in the hands of 2.7 million people within the first week. making a life saving difference. and i vetted government philippine run incident dismanned center that were mapping out the distribution sending out supplies on ped i pedicab, us. -- buses and trucks they recruited to the effort. this is a result of 10-year partnership to increase preparedness and the ability to respond. u.s. military aircraft delivered more than 2,000 ton of relief supply and evacuated 21,000 people out of storm-damaged areas. once we got back in.

to date the u.s. government has provided nearly $60 million in humanitarian assistance. all of that is already on the ground has made a difference during those early life saving days. so as noted. we already looking ahead. i've submitted a full detail testimony. let me hit on a few highlight from the relief, the recovery, and reconstruction aspects. the first is that we have a applied some key lessons from past disasterrer that helped us improve the coordination and the response for this typhoon. u.s.a. aid expert were tracking it for at least week before it hit ground. we were able to preposition member of our disaster assistance response team to work with the military and the embassy both to prepare and enable an immediate response. it roads were inassessable.

we were a able to immediately do assessment and deliver life-saving supplies to one of the hardest hit cities. and then as we invested and supported the capacity of the civilian side, both the government and the u.n. to set up land and sea bridges to help clear the roads so that we were able to wrap up the military engagement and bring forward the longer term civilian ability to ensure that the delivery were able to continue. lo jiggics were the number one focus. followed by three key priorities. emergency shelter, water sanitation, and food. there were about a million homes destroyed by the storm.

we air lifted right away heavy duty plastic sheeting to the philippines that -- contribute temporary shelters. the water supply were ranched. the system were down. we focused on provision of clean water, chlorine tablet, and very quickly worked to get it up and running with the support to unreceive and by the time i was there. that was already providing 100% the water for the municipal area. the philippines government and the international community continued to -- spornd to the health concerns. there are nearly 200 health teams on the ground now and more than 2,000 children have been immunized. and withstanding water trapped

in the debris it was a particular concern. there's been a big push for fogging operations. as chairman royce noted. we use the full spectrum of our food assistance tool the local purchase of rice got food immediately in to the hand of people who needed it then. we also were able to air lift very nutrient-dense food bar and nutrition paste from our regional warehouses and when there were no cooking facilities available, families were able to get a full-calorie out of these u.s.-produced food bars. finally, we rerouted the ship that was just loading up in our hub in sri lanka and brought that to the philippines nap ship arrived yesterday afternoon. although it wasn't there for the life-saving portion it will be an important part of the ongoing response. it's importance of a very flexible, full suite of tools.

finally, we know the most vulnerable, the women, the children, and elderly and those with special needs fare the worst during the disasters. we have a state initiative called safe from the start. which reminds us we need protection from the earliest day of the response. we are supporting programs that are working with identification, tracing and reunification of unaccompanied children focusing on safe space for women and chirp. one of the most important protection approaches making sure that aid gets to people who need it as quickly as possible. i wanted to say a note about the power of preparedness. we have been working with the government and the philippines, which is the second most disaster prone country in the region to help prepare and mitigate the risk of natural disasters for almost a decade. this is critically important. it helped make this not as bad as it could have been.

we've been training on first responders, on something called incident command system that we brought forward from our own u.s. forest service that enables the government to set up the command centers and know what to do and how to bring forward the right kind of trained people. they evacuated nearly 800,000 people in the advance of the storm. it saved countless lives. it's something we continue to do as we grapple with the new normal of increased storms that are battering an island nation like the philippines. we have to move as quickly as possible to early recovery. it's vital to so people can get on with their lives so they don't get mired in hopelessness and standing on the two feet again. we are already seeing market activities sprib up even in the hardest hit area. we are looking how to provide

life-saving than is also very aware of local coping mechanism and local markets. we are moving forward at our strategies for provision of lively hood support, looking at transitional shelter, continued food security, water sanitation efforts, and continued protection of the most vulnerable population including the human trafficking issues that are important and very much a part of our consideration. looking ahead, the government in the philippines just released the first early draft of what is considered they think they need. they have identified about 2.6 billion. each year the philippines loses about $5 billion as a result of natural disasters that is 2% of gdp. so as we look ahead to the reconstruction, one of the areas we will look at closely is

continuing the preparedness, the risk reduction, and how to build resilience at the household, the system, and the country level. it was one of the three area of focus for the usaid mission. it will be critical looking ahead. we are prioritizing our effort to support the critical area identified including some of the infrastructure, the lively hoods, and essential services that are necessary to get those communities back up on their feet. then finally we know that the most vulnerable will continue to be important as we go forward. we've -- just to conclude. a number of you have noted the important relationship between the united states and the philippine. we have seen an extraordinary outpouring of generosity from americans across the country, especially from the fill peeb -- philippines i dids a

practitioner. i've had the pleasure of participating in community efforts. the way they mobilize to provide help in the hour of need is heartening. and it just underscores the humanity we all share. the united states has a deep commitment. we will stay with the people and the government of the pill finds in to the recovery and the reconstruction era. we're already seeing the camera start to fade away in this becoming yesterday's story. the kind of hearing like we're having today, the continued equipment we, the united states have to the philippines will be absolutely vital. and i look forward to answering your questions. and i thank you very much for your support and consideration today. >> thank you very much for your testimony. your full testimony will be a part of the record.

if you can respond to them. one of the biggest tick away from the trip was debris. there was debris everywhere. it was a story to two-stories high. it looked like there was a lack of capacity to remove it. i know, there are programs catted lick relief services and ores are doing. the proliferate diseases which could easily erupt as a major health hazard. but when we got hit by hurricane sandy -- hurricane sandy hurricane sandy a lot of my shore towns are unbelievably infected. we debris everywhere. but thankfully we had the ability of the sheriff office of emergency management leader in man mouth and ocean. they did wonderful jobs in

coordinating the debris removal and environmentally safe depositive iting of that depre. our take away was what are they going do with the stuff? it's everywhere. whether you might want to speak to that. secondly, on the issue of trafficking. i'm a proud sponsor of the trafficking witness prebs act and work on combating human trafficking every day. that the traffickers including women who have made their way and children may look to prey upon vulnerable people who over longer period of time may have lost some hope or may have very gullible for an offer to go to saudi arabia or to korea or somewhere else in the philippines for what look like a real job but turns out to be --

to a hell on earth. which would be a trafficking situation. .. were very seriously damaged. and i'm wondering what the plans are to ensure that these women, especially the final three months of pregnant heat, get close to birth of their

children, will there be an effort to ensure they are safe blood and be skilled birth attendant to the can save her life if she needs a c-section or some other help to help mother and baby. i would not parenthetically that my daughter-in-law. my wife and i are grandparents have three grandchildren. just in july, and a princeton hospital had an emergency c-section, lost two liters plus a load and they had to send out for some of it because they didn't have her blood type. they had some, but not enough. in a ravaged area we visited them you've visited as well as the health clinics that are working, that could mean death to a woman were availability of safe blood could mean life. so if you could address that. finally, the issue of best practices learned from the earthquake in haiti and the

synonymy in the indian ocean. i was on the abraham lincoln briefly with a group of members. we went to but not cheat during the synonymy. the deployment of the aircraft carrier was like a pivot, and anchor for relief efforts during the emergency phase. what other best practices to and learned they are being applied a result of the typhoon? >> you've raised a lot of the critical issues. so first on debris. it's amazing. i mean, ever mess me up snow banks growing up in minnesota where they tower over you. this is a critical issue. the government of philippines has a salvage first policy. he may have seen the slow people already starting to pick through what is reusable versus what needs to be put into a landfill. we are taking this into account

in designing our transitional shelter programs and also incorporating will be called cash for work as a part of our program working with our u.n. and ngo partners who have a lot of skill addicts. doing programs that basically provide a decent wage in return for clearing debris away. this would be a huge challenge, an important challenge. unfortunately or fortunately, the philippines have a fair amount of experience in dealing with debris. it is a scale issue in this sense and will be an area of the media focus has been lookahead. you've raised some of the other associated concerns about disease with debris and for that reason, the fogginess a very important approach because there's standing water. the other issue of coors is there still pulling bodies out from underneath these mountains

of debris and that will likely remain an ongoing effort as they work their way through the recovery. i'm trafficking, this has been an area of concern in the philippines for some time. in fact, the united states has put about $11 million into counter trafficking programming in the philippines. we work closely with them and called the philippines interagency council for counter trafficking. there is a need to remain very vigilant about the possibility of increased trafficking whenever you have a major disaster like this and people are nearly vulnerable. there's the potential potential for increased trafficking. for that reason, we are watching this very closely, working with the local partners, who we work with all the time and looking to see where and if and how we need to in greece programming. he had in the philippines. we are talking closely, working

with our partners. thank you for your support on that. on the pregnant women, you know, the whole issue is critical not just for pregnant women, but the immunization would have to go forward. so that is the priority pushing who, government of the philippines and unicef. we provided support for that ticket to chain back and up and running so you can bring forward critical medicines including blood. their rate by 184 medical teams on the ground. it's been a fairly robust international response to try to fill the devastating gap that the storm created. they are now operating in the effect that areas, working to reestablish this critical facilities. also importantly was the early evacuation.

i mentioned i wrote it on a c-130. our u.s. military c-130 as they carry supplies and some of the kerry people out. about 12,000 people were evacuated in the hope is that those who need that kind of specialized assistance, including some of the more complicated births are able to get out. finally, in terms of best practices, i think there a lot of import best practices we took forward from past disasters. they really resulted in a close in the very effect this collaboration between usaid and dod. we were able, because of the work we've done together previously, very quickly stand up to prioritize the most important lifesaving supply to go forward. one of the things that happened in haiti is that there was a clogging of supplies they went

through the system and sometimes not the most important supplies went first. so this seamless collaboration that was the hallmark of this effort really grew out of lessons from haiti. >> not to make light, but it did bring up fogging everywhere we went in pointed out when i was seven, eight years old come without any parental notification or consent, my friends and i used to follow a fog or in new jersey and on our bikes. the ability to reduce the impact of the mosquito effect to that are looming and the attending risks. risk versus the benefit of stopping several epidemics from bursting out. so happy to hear that because i've never seen anything mccauley, mr. green and mr. franks would agree of never

seeing the ending water putrefying but we saw as a result of the typhoon, which is a breeding ground for disease. >> someone also followed the fogging trucks. in fact, there is a great concern about not just trying to address the standing water, but also to revitalize the surveillance system, the health surveillance system because one of the concerns is in the wake of the storm is we need to quickly have the ability to identify where you have an outbreak so you can get the fast treatment. it is really close to actions, and their surveillance systems and are bent to fogging underway. >> can you mix of much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. icann thank you for your leadership. it has been tailored. i would like to follow up on

what thing that you mentioned this lindborg about the filipino community and the diaspora. in houston, texas we have about 89,000 filipinos. i will tell you that the community has organized in the community has raised but i think is a fairly handsome sum of money that has been sent to the filipino community of coors sent to the philippines. i am honored to tell you that my community is on board with the effort. i had the opportunity to go to pakistan after the earthquake and i saw the communities that were flattened. homes just love old. i went to sri lanka after the tsunami and i saw a train

railcar has been lifted away from the tracks and some long distance away. went to haiti after the earthquake and saw the devastation that took place there and there's the group work to be done in haiti. i was born there, so i went to new orleans and saw the devastation that took place. in my humble opinion, what i saw in the philippines rivals all of these others. it is right they are with the great disasters of my time. my hope is he will continue to do what you are doing. dr. king reminds us the universe is long. however, we have to note that it doesn't do it on its own coalition. it says that because it people

who will go into harms way to try to help others in their times of need. i thank you for what you're doing and i trust usaid will continue to be a great servant that has been. i want to talk about the business community for a moment. i had the preeminent privilege of meeting with some of the leading citizens who were at the head of major corporations. we talked rather extensively about the largest and land yet. their monies they have that they can accord in a crisis, that they can share in a crisis. i think they have stepped up to the plate. they are making plans to do more. one of the things we talked about with schools. as you know, the infrastructure has been destroyed.

approximately 90% of the infrastructure for schools destroyed. children are without what they would normally do and that is be in the classroom. these dismissed leaders indicated a willingness to be of assistance to help the schools. i hope is there a piece of coordinated effort between the business community and the ngos, government, all the parties involved to help children. i'm concerned about people in the dawn of life in the toilet of life. our children are precious commodity in the hope is we will do some things to help them with their education. the senior citizens, persons who are not able to take care of themselves to the extent you and i can take care of ourselves, i would like it if you'd comment on efforts made to help them

comment on the efforts to help reestablish schools as quickly as possible. she indicated the number one concern to shelter. this was the case of coors in louisiana after katrina, shelter is a great importance. as well as in sri lanka. i know we have a lot of experience dealing the shelter after these tragic events. i also know what is true about them being in harms way to this very day because the hurricane season -- well, the typhoon season for them, which is the zenith at apex of the month of december. so there may be something else living on the right.

their number one need to shelter. if you'd comment on the shelter issue. one additional comment and complement with reference to the ability to move 800,000 people, that is remarkable. it is no small feat in to do this at the limited amount of time speaks well of the coordinated effort that it took to get it done. i know you've mentioned it in if you want to say more about how that was accomplished, i'll be honored to hear. thank you, mr. chairman. i will await the lady's answers. >> my apologies for coffee. sorry. that's an amazing set of places that you visited in the scene in

each instance the awesome power these natural events have to disrupt and to destroy it. to address your issues, i'm a first of all on-air community for their ability, their commitment to mobilize and the fact they focus also on racing cash. one of our major messages has been to the american people who want to provide assistance is to focus on cash at the fast and most effective means to help in the philippines. also, we do have easter the richer office for kicking a particular rep dates of interest, specifically or especially to the diaspora. we'll be sure to get that to you. on the private sector, this is an incredible and important part of the response, both the private business sector and the american public.

we see how those contributions are a very important and quite large portion of the reconstruction effort. both the immediate and longer-term returns to action. we have in a idea special working group was set up specifically to look at how to bring forward those partnerships. i know that a number of ngos are also quite experienced and committed to partnering with the dirt. i think lucy a lot a lot of this effort going forward. schools are essential. it's part of getting a sense of normalcy back in to people's lives. even temporary schools, syria pull to help children focus on the future instead of their loss. children are amazingly resilient. it's important to have the opportunity not to lose out on critical schooling years. that is a part of the

infrastructure. that is one of the largest priorities. you quite rightly raise shelter, both as a priority in one of the areas that is always one of the most challenging after these storms. we've learned a lot i think in terms of the importance of providing transitional shelter because people very quickly into the kind of shelter that can withstand additional weather events, understanding that may be a while for the permanent shelter solutions to fully come on stream. we saw this evening katrina as you noted after katrina. you know, the other challenge is there is often a desire to look at policies that help citizens not rebuild in areas that are at greatest risk. these are the tough policy decision that often takes a

while for a government to responsibly work through to a solution. our strategy was to first of all provide a life-saving shelter material pit that got people of the elements. we have our shelter expert on the ground now to work on transitional shelter programs. we will be very supportive but particularly the issue of ensuring their peoples rights respected as we look forward to the longer-term shelter solutions that will take a while to come forward. >> does let me conclude before going to a second panel. craig said kenneth lee visited joseph butchart, mostly antitrafficking path offered to get the boca around designated

as a foreign terrorist association. while we were there, we did visit with ngos, including a bishop named shows who have lost 10 aid for aids orphans. it raises a serious question that i've been asking for 30 years. more than 30 years. that is the robust inclusion of faith-based organizations, which i believe, whether we are combating being sick hiv/aids, the program mayor or malaria, tuberculosis are doing relief operations in a tie for another natural disaster. the efficacy of the operation is enhanced with faith based operations are robustly concluded. the multiplier effect is incalculable and i've seen it over and over again. what i found in nigeria was only 9% -- there is 90% not, particularly when the health

care grid is primarily faith-based, we are getting induced not disconcerting to me. kept in the services getting support. we salima to the transfer creation church, a matter fact come a week before that i understand cardinal mccarrick had celebrated mass there and we received communion while we were there. it was a church with babe ruth completely blown off and had been completely rehabbed and unfortunately will have to be so again. i encourage you to realize every dollar spent there does get multiplied because of the unbelievable commitment that has nothing to do with money and everything to do with service for service they, but also the multiplier effect of the volunteers included in the operation. if you could take that back or if you want to respond. the recovery must be sustainable

and know you have friends and advocates here. it is bipartisan. mr. green, mr. frank, all this i believe if we doesn't mean it's your folks on the ground say the cash for the work needs an additional push for this or that, let us know. we can't guarantee results, but we can try to increase the capabilities he will then help on the ground to help the people who've been ravaged by this storm. yes. >> well, to your first point, amen. we have a lot of -- we have a lot of really importune, wonderful faith-based partners and we are seeing especially homeport madison philippines at the network of churches they have. i was on a call that phase space

community members across the country last week talking about the philippines responds in hearing about all the efforts happening in this country that support both the relief and recovery efforts. so absolutely agree with you that is an important part of the landscape. some of our most valued partners, including the two coming up next. on the offer to help us keep sustained attention on this, i very much thank you for that and i would welcome the opportunity to take you up on that offer. we see all too often after the cameras go away that these kind of responses falloff the page and people move on to other issues. we will be there with their teams, with their funding and programs and we welcome the partnership in helping to keep the spotlight on the sustained effort. again, i cannot think chairman

smith, congressman green and the rest of your subcommittee for the continued focus and support for these kinds of critical efforts. >> i would just add that if that sentiment could be shared with the health minister and others without meeting with him. it was a coup as a foreign idea to him. i asked him to look into it, he said he would. they don't include faith-based organizations in those things be fun. mr. green wanted to make a comment. >> yes, sir. thank you, mr. chairman. i also want to thank mr. bass again for allowing me to be here. i want to add an amen if i made to what you said about the faith-based initiative. they not only help after a disaster, but also before. i had seen evidence of it because they know what the vulnerable hour. they know where the help is

needed. they are intimately familiar with the people in the neighborhood and they can do an awful lot with the evacuation process. when people have to shelter in place, and that is usually what you finally hear from a shelter in place. there's no more we can do, given the hurricane, in our case, or the typhoon is so near and that we have to just stay where we are. when that happens, it is peace institutions, the state-based institutions that are still there. we leave, but they write these things out. as soon as it's over, they know exactly where to go to render the most aid. i would just like to give my compliments to you for bringing that up. >> thank you, mr. green. the concern we have about the bias against ms well-founded. after super storm sandy, i

offered a bill that passed 354 -- 352 to 74. totally bipartisan about it provided funding for houses of worship, many who are the front-line defense in terms of humanitarian aid in new york and new jersey ravaged by super storm sandy. the bill passed. fema opposes it. the senate has opposed it and refuses to even bring it up for a vote. i can't tell you have disappointed and outrageously wrong i think those who were first and foremost in the relief side, being told you're not going to get fema relief. there's a separation of church and date issued. they can do all kinds of other things, but they can't get the critical fema support. that bias, which i know you don't share needs to be guarded against because that first line of defense is so important.

mr. green and i would be in agreement. the more you can help out in that regard, the better. thank you. i'd like to now welcome our second panel began with mr. shawn callahan, chief operating officer for catholic relief services. he's also served as executive vice president for overseas operations and regional director for south asia and catholic relief services. he's the crs regional response to flood, drought, earthquake a mistake on a man-made emergencies in south asia. his time working with the service is coming is to experience a terrorist attack at a sri lankan airport worked closely with mother teresa and the missionaries of charity in calcutta at work on programming in afghanistan during and after the taliban. without objection, his faux resume as well as our next witness will be part of the record. i'd like to introduce mr. chris bluesky, a humanitarian

professional with 15 years of international relief development and fundraising experience. during that time, he served on a wide range of emergency responses, assisting with natural disasters and complex unitarian emergencies. his work in hotspots increases for a majority of china's humanitarian specialists, including kosovo, afghanistan, sri lanka, pakistan, sudan, burma, lebanon and bali. mr. palis gave had served in senior leadership positions with other humanitarian organizations putting care, samaritan's purse and world relief. mr. callahan, the floor is yours. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i appreciate the fact you were holding the session along with ranking member bass on the other subcommittee members and certainly represented green. before going, i'll going to

summarize my comments. i asked the written testimony be added and for the record. first, i thank you very much for this opportunity to speak. i want to weekend think both of you and mr. frank says well for participating in the trip out for crs is able to participate in hosting you as well. these strips are not only important for the stewardship of the resources the u.s. is committing them to generate energy, but also a trip that shows the compassion of the u.s. we found when we were there and we arrived a week after the disaster as you stated earlier, iraq is cardinal mccarrick. the outpouring from the filipino people and that thanks to the united states is really overwhelming. anyplace that event, people came out of their way to think the united states for that commitment and support those provided at that time. i think that type of recognition

really show some thing of the filipino people. it also is something the united states should be very, very proud of. i want to reflect as well because the comments here earlier about the type of response that occurred and just to quickly summarize the united states, the u.n. and the local organizations, putting the filipino government, really did an outstanding job as has been articulated before. from our point of view, it was a rapid response on the ground. we have a presence in the philippines of over 100 staff working with local society. the church organization. the people in the sites a day after the disaster occurred and the response was immediate. i would also highlight from the previous presenter, nancy lindborg at the usaid was very forthright and ticket manage to communicate directly to faith-based organizations to

catholic relief services to let us know if we needed any assistance at all during this process to get in touch with them. ahead of os ea and deputy took preemptive calls to us to say things don't go fast, if you're having anything be blocked out that they would assist in moving forward. they said that's not only a team on the ground in the philippines, but they also set up a special emergency coordination unit here in washington. i will say they were wonderful, including on the ground. i know she traveled with you, but you should direct your come up mauricio that with us as well during our visit there and she was supportive of the efforts we have come a new of the provided and was looking forward to assistance of long-term. i will say that was very positive.